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Answers to WTFWTK 2.10!

Toyguru has once again provided answers to your questions.
Check out his answers to your Round 10 questions!

1. Does Mattel own the rights to release the video game that was made a few years ago for the 200X series, and if so, is there any chance that it could be released on Matty collector?We wish we had a more straightforward answer for you, but this is one of those things that falls into “Not at the time”. We are looking at new ways to bring the MOTU characters to fans, but at this time do not have news about this video game.

2. It was announced in a recent Q&A that Convention Exclusives and any other "Extra" figures produced would not be included in the annual preorder system. When will the full details of the annual preorder system be announced and what are the advantages/incentives for the customer to invest their money upfront in a year's worth of figures?We are working hard with our distribution center to set up this system but likely will not have it ready until later in Spring of 2009. The advantage to placing an order like this is you are guaranteed the next 12 figures without them selling out or without having to go online each month and place an order. We know a lot of fans have discussed only there would be an extra bonus such as a special figure or accessory but we are just not set up to do that at this time nor was it ever announced this way.

3. Are there any plans to put the MYP Masters of the Universe in syndication or to re-syndicate any of the classic series? It's possible that if the show was aired again on channels like Kids WB or Fox, it could bring new life to the franchise.We have discussed this with our Entertainment partners and were told this is something being looked into based on how the DVD sales go. But it is not something the folks who work on MOTUC line control.

4. Can you give us a general idea of how the "old parts to new parts" ratio has to be budgeted out for MOTUC? And, if the line is successful, will the ratio of new parts increase? There isn’t an exact formula that says figure A has 80% new parts and 20% old. Instead we work with an overall budget of XX dollars for 12 figures. We look at how many tools we need for all 12 figures in a year and then look at which figures would work the best for this budget. Sometimes not doing an extra accessory (such as with Stratos) lets us afford an extra head (like with Mer Man) This is why we are starting out with a lot of figures that share parts (i.e. Mer Man uses Skeletor’s body). If the line continues to do well and we can get more tooling funds we will look into more 100% tool figures like Ram Man or the Rock people. This is all dependent on overall sales of the line.

Additionally, when we look at all 12 figures for an annual tooling budget we look at where it makes the most sense to spend money on a new tool. Where will it be coolest for collectors vs. where does it makes the most sense for parts that can be reused later in the line. (we do this on DCUC as well, just look at Gentleman Ghost in Wave 8) It is always a delicate balance!

5. Hasbro produces a plastic protector case for the single carded GI Joe figures. Would it be feasible for Mattel to create the same type of plastic case for the new MOTUC line as well as the 2002 line?This is something we are looking into. Stay tuned, we are well aware of fan demand for this type of case.

6. With the adjustment of the line's debut, what is the schedule by which fans can expect to see new figures shown on MattyCollector, and how does NYCC play into the debut of new figures?In general we will keep collectors at least 3-4 months ahead on release schedules. Right now we have revealed up to the March figure (Mer-Man) and plan to show at least 3 to 4 new figures at each convention this year at our fan panels. (both NY and SD).

7. How does Mattel pick who gets early product samples to review? Many fans would like He-Man.org and other MOTU sites to be some of the first places to get samples to review for fans everywhere to enjoy.Our PR department distributes samples based on the coverage sites give to existing product. (i.e. if a site does a great job reviewing and promoting new figures bought on shelf, those of us in the marketing department who surg the sites on a regular basis will notice and push to get those sites early PR samples). We only get a few samples in and try to do our best to get them to the major sites that will cover the product the best for as many fans. For MOTUC we will do our best to send an early sample for review to He-Man.org as they are one of the best sites dedicated only to MOTU brand. So far we have had a sample of each Classics figure to send to He-Man.org and hope to continue this partnership into the future. They do some great reviews!

8. Could Mattel upload the art from the ToyFare ads to MattyCollector or He-Man.org without the text? They would make awesome wallpapers for the desktop.We will look into the logistics of this request and see what can be done. We chose to use the 2002 backgrounds entirely for cost reasons. They were available and we knew would really make the figures pop in the print ads!

9. Aside from the 800 hotline which still costs international fans a lot of money, is Mattel taking any steps to offer other methods of customer service?We are actively working on setting up an email customer service options for early 2009.

10. From time to time, could Mattel implement a type of "Vote for a character" program where fans & collectors pick the next character that will be released?While this is something that works very well for a line like DCUC, it is harder for a line like MOTUC simply because we do not have the tooling bank set up yet. The MOTUC line has been VERY carefully thought out over the next few years to tool parts which can be reused for future figures.

For example, when we do Buzz Off, we would also get the feet and arms for Clawful (or vica versa). Because of the very limited tooling budget we have for this line, it would be difficult to throw a wild card into the line up as each and every character has been selected based on both fan demand and on what common parts he or she will generate for future use. It is a very carefully balanced scale.

Once we have gotten about 20-30 figures under out belt it will be easier to do. (and yes we know at only 12 per year this will take longer) But then again, once we do that many figures ideally we will have covered a lot of the fan requests, after all, MOTU does not have the thousands of characters DCU has. We understand a lot of fans request this type of contest and we do hear you, so we are looking at ways of setting one up once we have enough parts in our tooling bank and logistics make this possible.

I like this statement: The MOTUC line has been VERY carefully thought out over the next few years

Same here. That and the: "Once we have gotten about 20-30 figures under our belt". Though, that one is somewhat bitter-sweet for me since it means I might be waiting years before they even consider a Tallstar. hehe And let's face it, girl doesn't have the potential to share that many parts with anyone else.

Our PR department distributes samples based on the coverage sites give to existing product. (i.e. if a site does a great job reviewing and promoting new figures bought on shelf, those of us in the marketing department who surg the sites on a regular basis will notice and push to get those sites early PR samples). We only get a few samples in and try to do our best to get them to the major sites that will cover the product the best for as many fans.

Apparently, PlanetEternia.de doesn't fit in there. Quite sad for a site that's dedicaded so much time to the brand, worked together with Mattel Germany in the past, did its best to get as many German fans as possible into the line, has at least one new review online each week (with more than 300 reviews and several theme weeks done up to this day) and has won an award for "best website" last week. Oh well, it's still a non-US site, after all.

I really hope we get as far as to have "about 20-30 figures under our belt"! that sound good. But then I wont expect a trap-jaw or a man-e-faces any time soon . Then again Man-at-arms cant be that far away!!! YAYYY!!!

In a way, I'm upset that we probably won't see Man-E soon (to many new parts) but if it means we get to see someone like Marzo (who would use the male body) then I'll happily display my 200X Man-E with my MOTUC!

Wow, believe it or not, this was my favorite round of Q/A! This really gets you "behind the scenes" on what it takes to get these figures into our homes.

Thank you Toyguru!

It was very interesting to me how the entire year is planned out in advance and not just a few figures at a time. Also, if we see a character that's lacking "extras," we can be assured that a character down the line will go "above and beyond."

Also, this widdles some figures out of this year (like Rammy). But next year, if we see some figures that are mostly reused parts...that means that they may have saved that money in order to bring us an all new tooled character.

To me, this sounds like we'll be getting a lot of "cousin figures" in pairs - guys like He-Man/Faker, Beastman/Stratos. Stuff like that. Which is kinda cool, in that once they show off Teela, we'll know that Evil-lyn isn't far off!

We've been told that PoP figures are coming next year... Thus they'll have good re-usable toolings for PoP figures!!!

Make's sense no?

It's nice to get that info on the tooling costs and how they figure them out. Makes perfect sense to me. And understandable why we won't get some figures soon, but hopeful for later.
Some of my favorite bad guys are Jitsu, Whiplash and Clawful, so if Buzzoff or Clawful get announced, I can remain hopeful of getting those three guys!
I would think then too that figures like Triklops, Fisto, Jitsu, Webstor, Stinkor, SCAREGLOW!... Can't be too far off as they use a bunch of old tooling.

Mer-man in March???

Did they say Mer-Man in March??? I thought Faker was March and Mer-Man was April. I can't wait for Mer-Man so I'm hoping he's been bumped up to March. I'm also excited about the Clawful/Buzz-Off comment.

I'm disappointed they're sticking so much to the one per month and (per another site's Q&A) online only ideas. Obviously it would be way too soon to change either of those, but I was hoping they'd be a little more commited to changing each sometime.

I know it's a business, and this model seems like it may work for them, but it doesn't work as well for the fans.

At one figure per month and at only MattyCollector.com, those 20-30 figures will obviously take years to show up, and it's not exactly easy for a toyline to last that long. MOTUC will have to survive longer than the original line did that inspired all this just to get a majority of the characters.

Anyway, these were pretty informative answers overall. Lots of solid responses, without too many "It's a possibility, Wait and see" ones.

Did they say Mer-Man in March??? I thought Faker was March and Mer-Man was April. I can't wait for Mer-Man so I'm hoping he's been bumped up to March. I'm also excited about the Clawful/Buzz-Off comment.

Calm down, dude.

It was probably just a slip of the keyboard, like that tall sisters comment. Mer Man was originally March, so he probably just had that in his head.

At one figure per month and at only MattyCollector.com, those 20-30 figures will obviously take years to show up, and it's not exactly easy for a toyline to last that long. MOTUC will have to survive longer than the original line did that inspired all this just to get a majority of the characters.

I'm sure their hope is successful sales will warrant increasing the release frequency.
If not, they can continue to play it close to the chest.
Not a bad plan, really.

I'm sure their hope is successful sales will warrant increasing the release frequency.
If not, they can continue to play it close to the chest.
Not a bad plan, really.

Yeah, part of me thinks it'll be hard to sustain momentum with only 1 figure per month.
But then again, we're only just now into the second month of this line.

So, I'm willing to try and be patient and see how things feel later this summer/fall.

Right now, I am absolutely chomping at the bit to get as many figures as possible, and more than anything, I wish the price point were a little bit lower so it wouldn't be so hard for fans to handle these figures in Waves.

But I'll try to be patient.

Overall, kinda meh WTFWTK this time, but IMO the questions asked weren't all that interesting.
(Except for the new parts/tooling dollars ones. )